Free Bound in Black by Juliette Cross Page A

falling almost into a trance as he lifted a hand and cupped my jaw. “You dream of me,” he whispered with confidence, gaze roving my face, landing on my lips. “You must love me.” When his thumb trailed across my cheek to my bottom lip, I snapped from the strange icy hypnosis he’d held me in. Slapping his arm away, I moved back toward the street entrance.
    Mira shrieked as she soared down the alley. Thomas glanced over his head just as she winged above him, then landed on my shoulder. The comfort of having her near grounded me, repelling his wintry aura. For these few minutes with Thomas, I’d been spinning, lost in orbit. Mira brought me back to earth where I belonged.
    He stared at her, entranced, as most Flamma were when they first saw her. “She is your creation.”
    When my underlight glowed, so did Mira, shining like the beacon of light that she was.
    Fortified by Mira’s strength, I inhaled a deep breath and said with firm conviction so there would be no doubt of my feelings, “I do not love you, Thomas. I never will.”
    He swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his jaw clenched.
    “I understand now that killing you won’t bring Jude back. But if you threaten those I love again—I will kill you. Make no mistake about that. Do you understand?”
    His chin dropped. He closed his eyes in ascent for the briefest of moments. When he lifted his gaze to me, a flicker of raw emotion I’d never seen in his eyes sent my heart racing.
    With a tight nod, he said, “I do.” Then he sifted away in a blink.
    Mira lifted off into the night. Needing to escape the confined and foul atmosphere of this alley, I immediately stepped away, jogging out of the alleyway and around the corner, literally bumping into Kat. She grabbed my shoulders to steady us both.
    “Did you get him?” I asked.
    “No. That bastard can’t sift, but he’s fast as hell and wily as a witch. What about the other guy?”
    “Gone.”
    “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    “Worse. An angel.”
    “No. Way. Thomas?”
    I walked on. Kat fell in stride.
    “So? What did the asshat have to say for himself?”
    “Nothing worth repeating. Let’s get out of here.”
    Before she could argue or ask me another aggravating question I didn’t want to answer, I grabbed her hand and sifted us out, knowing Mira would instinctually follow us to Jude’s home. She always knew where I was going. Our connection was constant and unbreakable.
    As Kat and I tumbled through the Void, my mind kept drifting back to the glimpse of something primal in those glass-green eyes before Thomas had vanished. I couldn’t name what I’d seen for a split-second there. Only one word screamed at me when he quietly confirmed he understood my threat clearly. And it made no sense, for it was the opposite of what he’d said. In my mind, I heard only a defiant no .

Chapter Seven
    After Kat had gone, I sifted across the ocean to the only place where I felt safe, where I felt closest to Jude. A blustery snowstorm whipped over the island. Once Mira and I were safely in the cottage, I barred the door tight and stuffed a towel under it to keep out the cold.
    As I settled under a dozen quilts in the bed where I’d spent my wedding night in his strong arms, I listened to the gale winds howl and rattle the panes like some ominous warning of danger drawing closer. I snuggled deep into my pillow, angry that I hadn’t at least given Thomas a punch in the face. Leaving him with a bloody, broken nose would’ve made me feel better. After all this time waiting for the moment to show him what his betrayal had done to me, I couldn’t lay a scratch on him when the time finally came. What was wrong with me?
    In his presence, I felt stifled, restricted somehow, my emotions jumbled, masking my anger. It wasn’t that I forgave him. Because I didn’t. It was pity…and compassion. I pretended his words meant nothing to me, but they did. I didn’t return his sentiment of